Fade
by Kei Tree
Summary: Faded words and stories both spoken and unspoken. A one piece, please RR if so inclined.


AN: Hello all, a brief return into Laby fiction. I *am* working on Take Me Away. I   
have a half written chapter that taunts me from my hard drive. Forgive me for the time   
that has passed. I haven't forgotten, but am simply *extremely* frustrated. LOL  
  
This piece came to me thanks to the lyrics of this lovely song, especially the refrain.   
The song itself is titled "Regrets" (unfortunately already a name of one of my Laby   
stories) and is off an independent effort by the wildly talented Nine Days. May their   
newest creation be released soon darn it! I want a real copy.   
  
I disclaim all ownership or rights to song and character. Words are my own. Thank   
letylyf for being a wonderfully prompt and thorough beta. All mistakes within are my   
own.   
  
A review would be nice. I miss reviews. :)   
  
************************************* Fade ****************************************  
  
** Who's got time for faded words  
There's nothin' new we haven't heard  
I wish to hell that I could tell the truth  
From all the lies we keep inside  
Behind closed doors  
Inside our minds  
I pray to heaven, save us from ourselves  
Well, here I am  
Another day  
A lifetime's passed since yesterday  
Still I am no farther than before  
Through all the roads and paths we walked  
Endless nights alone we talked  
Those miles will never mean a thing **  
  
Time had been good to her when it was cruel to so many mortals. Age suited Sarah well,   
with well earned lines and weathered skin that spoke of sun and rain and living under the   
open sky Above. Her hair was streaked with gray but in sunshine it dappled silver. The   
remaining brown was burnished copper. Her smile was much the same as her smile of old,   
a mysterious quirk of lips meant to hide, not show. When she smiled hugely, which was   
rare, you could see the even stretch of white teeth gleaming in agreement with her   
happiness.   
  
Sarah's eyes were the oldest part of her. She had learned numerous lessons over the years   
and each one committed to memory deepened the darkness in her sharp gaze. The bitterness   
was tempered with serenity. Sarah had done what Jareth could not; accept the inevitability   
of life and all the joys and pains that it entailed.   
  
Jareth mused as he watched the woman who was so much. So many things, so many people.   
He didn't know one Sarah- he knew dozens, each distinct and individual in their personality   
and quirks. This Sarah was one of his favorites. She was more beautiful than the   
theatrical actress that had descended in Sarah's early twenties; more proud than the brides   
that had walked down six aisles to six different men over the decades. This Sarah was   
softer than the defiant child who had stood before him and demanded his obedience, his   
world. Maybe the passing years had given her pause enough to understand his immortality,   
at least in part.  
  
He better understood her frailty, her determination, the precious loss of each   
breath. When he sighed, his breath frosted in the North Dakota air as a stern reminder.  
  
He took the offered iced tea with its accompanying slice of lemon and joined her as she   
sat in one of the rocking chairs on her large front porch with a grace that didn't know   
the bounds of age. Sarah was beautiful to watch. She flowed like liquid, or black silk.   
  
** And I (I) never thought we had a chance  
So you (you) you should fly away, and I will fade **   
  
The Goblin King was at home in her penthouses, and mansions, or in this case, her ranch.   
He was a part of Sarah's life, an integral part of the puzzle that spanned three quarters   
of a century.   
  
He simply didn't have a place in it.  
  
Jareth sipped his iced tea with a grimace.   
  
** Sometimes life can be so hard  
You do your best and still you're scarred  
I like you better than myself  
And on this point we disagree  
You give your love, you're never free  
For, break your heart is somethin' I couldn't help **  
  
Sometimes the quiet truths were the hardest to know. They lurked instead of making   
themselves known because they were painful. Sarah loved him with a thousand small gestures,   
from an open smile that showed teeth to the lemon in his tea. That didn't hurt nearly as   
much as the fact that he loved her back, with touches and time and his unwavering devotion.  
  
The most painful truth was tied to these truths. The hardest thing Jareth had   
ever known was that, despite his impossible love for a woman who could live a breath of his   
own life and experience twice as much, that they would never, ever name that love. That   
he would never walk her down an aisle or slip a ring onto her finger to join the   
ghosts of six others who were not nearly as worthy as he.  
  
The lesson of unrequited love had darkened Sarah's eyes when she was a youth. These days,   
they were almost black.   
  
** And I (I) never thought we had a chance  
So you (you) you should fly away (fly away) and I will fade (and I will fade) **  
  
Sarah hummed as they watched the sunset together, comfortable because their situation   
should be so uncomfortable. They never should have meant so much to each other. They   
could never mean anything less.  
  
The paradox sustained them and when she dared to hold his hand he laughed gentle, mocking   
their attempts to claim what had been lost before it was born. She laughed as well,   
tears brightly unshed in the darkness of her eyes. Jareth touched her cheek and she   
looked away.   
  
Even this Sarah had her pride.   
  
** Have you got time for faded words  
I've somethin' here you haven't heard  
Wish to hell I could of told the truth  
Well, there's all these words I couldn't say  
A lifetime's passed and gone away  
Still I am no farther than before **  
  
They were staring at the stars and fine red wine had replaced the tea. Usually they sat   
in silence, mostly because words were so hard for them, between them. Words had built and   
destroyed so much in all the incarnations of their friendship, and quietly endured love.   
It was easier not to speak and anything that made their time together easier was accepted   
with relief. Neither was a coward, just very tired of living.  
  
He surprised her then, by breaking the spell of the Dakota sky. "I am sorry, you know that."   
  
She glanced at the proudly ragged line of his profile, mostly hidden in shadow. Sarah's   
fingers trembled as she reached for her wine glass and wet her lips, leaving them red.   
"You can't apologize for the world Jareth." His name passed with gentle longing, distant   
and yet part of her. She ached with that distance.   
  
"I can when I created that world."   
  
Sarah sighed, the sound a rush of mortality, and he turned pale moonlight colored eyes to   
her, mouth a firm frown that softened his usual severity with vulnerability. "I am sorry   
Sarah."   
  
She smiled, a gentle quirk of her full lips, and rose with ease. She took their empty wine   
glasses and headed towards the house. She paused in the doorway, "Aren't we all?"   
  
** And I (I) I think that maybe we had our chance  
So you (you) you flew away, so I will fade (I will fade)  
I will fade  
You flew away  
So I will fade  
I will fade **  
  
When she returned to the porch Jareth was gone. Sarah wrapped her arms around herself   
and fancied hearing wing beats of a lone owl flying to the moon. She stayed in her   
rocking chair until dawn and when the sun rose, her eyes were darker than ever. Her   
breath misted in the chilly morning air as she fell asleep, gently rocking herself with   
graceful, absentminded motion. 


End file.
